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CORSET. N0.-2.81,462. i Patented July 17,1883.

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UNITED STATES.

PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERIO D. COOKE, OF WEST BROOKFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR V TO 0.L. OLMSTEAD, OF SAME PLACE.

CORSET.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 281,462, dated July 17,1883.

Application filed March 7, 1883.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREnERIc D. OooKE, of West Brookfield, in the countyof Worcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new Improvementin Corsets; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken inconnection with accompanying drawings and the letters of referencemarked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same,and which said drawings constitute part of this specification, andrepresent, in-

Figure 1, a View of the corset open, looking from the back; Fig. 2, aperspective view of the seam-stay detached; Fig. 3, a transverse sectionthrough the seam-stay.

This invention relates to an' improvement in corsets, having for itsobject a better support for the back of the wearer, as well as tostrengthen the corset at the seams, and thereby pre. serve the shape ofthe corset; and it consists in the construction of the corset ashereinafter described, and more particularly recited in the claims.

A represents the back portion, which extends each side of the center toabout the shoulderblade lines a a. On these lines the side sections, B,are stitched to the back portion to alittle above the waist-line, as at12. From this point upward the sections are detached and the edgesprovided with eyelets and a lacing, as shown. The forward edge of thesaid sections is stitched to the front sections, 0, from the topdownward to a point, d, below the waist-line, and from that point (1downward the parts are left detached, their edges fitted wit-h eyelets,and provided with alacing, as at e. In the hipsection, midway betweenthe front and back sections, a vertical opening is made, extending fromthe waist-line upward and downward, 0 as at f, but not so as to dividethe section from top to bottom. The two edges of these open- I ings farefitted with eyelets and provided with a lacing, as shown. The backsection is constructed with series of stays, as shown, to give strengthto the back. By this construction there is no separation of the parts ofthe corset. It is substantially a continuous piece throughout. Placedupon the person, and clasped at the front with all the lacings"loose, 50it is then adjusted to the wearer, the upper (No model.)

the centralside lacings, f, serve to adjust it around the waist, andthus the most perfect adjustment may be obtained, and when once adjustedit will retain'its shape, for the reason that the laced openings cannotchange, as necessarily must an opening which extends entirely from topto bottom with lacings throughout.

In the manufacture, shaping, and laundering of corsets, a considerabledifficulty is experienced, for the reason that the edges of thesections, necessarily cut in irregular shape, do not retain their shape,or readily assume it after having been laundered, and they are readilydrawn or pulled out of shape on the person, their irregular edgeyielding to slight strains. To overcome this difficulty I form a stay,as seen in Fig. 2. This consists of a pocket, h, formed by doubling astrip of fab ric around a strong cord, 03, the doubled edges extendingto one side of the pocket, and aline of stitches run through the-doublededges close 7 5 up to the cord. The stay thus prepared is in troducedon-the outside at the seam-line or edge of the sections, as seen at n,Fig. 3, it lying upon the surface of one section, 0, the projecting edgeof the section upon which it lies, the outer thickness, 8, of theadjacent section overlying the edge m of the stay-piece, the otherthickness, t, on thereverse side. The sections are then stitchedtogether, as indicated by the broken line, Fig. 3, the stitches passingthrough the thicknesses of the corset in the usual manner, and alsothrough the edge portion m of the stay, the projecting edge and thethicknesses of the sections lying in planes parallel with each other, asshown in 0 Fig. 3, the projecting edge m and the thicknesses of thesection upon which the cord lies between the thicknesses of the adjacentsection. The stays a therefore follow the edges of the sections, andprevent those edges from 9 5 stretching orbeing drawn out of shape.These seam-stays may also'be made an ornament to the corset-as, forillustration, by employing a different or finer fabric to'make thepocket for those stays. 10o

I do not wish to be understood as claiming, broadly, the introduction ofwhat is commonly called pipingcord on the line of a seam in a garment,as such, I am aware, is not new.

1. The hereindescribed corset, consisting of the close back section, A,side sections, B, and front sections, 0, all stitched together, the sidesections to the back from the bottom upward to above the waist-line, andopen from that point upward, the side sections to the front sectionsfrom the top downward below the waist-line, and open from that pointdownward, and the side sections constructed with a vertical centralopening, f, extending from the waist-line upward and downward, the edgesof the several openings having a series of eyelets and provided withcorresponding lacings, all substantially as described.

2. In a corset, the seam-stay n, consisting of a cord inclosed in astrip of fabric doubled around the cord to form a projecting edge, m,from the cord, the said projecting edge laid over upon the outer surfaceof one section of the corset near its edge and toward the adjacentsection, the outer thickness of the adjacent section overlapped onto thesaid projecting edge m, the other thickness on the reverse side, thesaid stay following the line of the edge of the section, a projectionfrom the cord, and the respective sections lying all in planes parallelwith each other and stitched together, substantially as described.

FREDERIC I). COOKE.

\Vitnesses:

JOHN E. EARLE, Jos. O. EARLE.

